NAACP National President Urges Black Athletes to Boycott States that Eliminate DEI

Most of the nation is fixated on the NCAA’s Basketball March Madness Tournament to see which team will win the National Championship. But Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, has taken to the media urging Black high school athletes to turn down offers to play at colleges and universities in states that have already or are considering future possibilities of eliminating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Programs. “I fervently hope that high school student-athletes looking to apply to colleges and universities not consider schools that are reversing DEI programs, and they should let the recruiters, coaches, and admissions officers know why they’ve opted not to join their programs,” said Johnson. “I would hope that students currently enrolled at schools that have dismantled DEI consider, in consultation with their parents and guardians, whether their academic needs might be better served elsewhere.” According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, since early 2023, legislators in dozens of states have introduced at least 65 anti-DEI bills aimed at prohibiting colleges from hiring a more diverse faculty, removing cultural competency training, and undermining comprehensive curriculums. In January, the Florida Board of Governors banned public colleges from spending state funding on all DEI programs....